


time after time

by thunderylee



Category: SixTONES (Band)
Genre: Canon Universe, M/M, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-16
Updated: 2014-05-16
Packaged: 2019-01-15 17:15:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12325377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thunderylee/pseuds/thunderylee
Summary: Shintaro’s past, present, and future all have one thing in common.





	time after time

**Author's Note:**

> reposted from agck. written for trope bingo (time travel).

Like most things in Morimoto Shintaro’s life, he found the time turner by accident. The small chain with the spinning globe on it shone up at him from the gutter, and being a curious fourteen-year-old boy, he picked it up. The instant he changed the spin pattern, he was transformed into what felt like another world, only what he saw was a much older version of himself with a stack of textbooks, studying for what looked like some kind of complicated math test.

Everything about it felt wrong, so he made the same motion in reverse and thankfully returned to his normal teenage self. Over time, he experimented with different spins and learned how to return to the past as well as visit the future, never once disturbing anyone or anything. He’s seen enough movies to know not to mess with fate. Just a glimpse, he always told himself. Just to see that everything would be okay.

After about a year, he started hearing that he was looking older than he should, and that’s when he learned that time travelling had its consequences. For each trip he made, he aged faster. That should have been an indicator that he should stop, but Shintaro wasn’t the type to heed warnings. Especially since all of his visits in the future had one thing in common.

Juri was always there. Shintaro hadn’t thought anything of it at first, because Juri’s a good friend of his, but as he saw more and more of his adult life in snippets it started to seem rather odd. At his sister’s wedding, Juri was there. When Shintaro buys his own house at thirty, Juri is there. Even as an old man with white hair, bouncing Ryuutaro’s grandchildren on his lap, Juri was there. Not only did they debut into the same group, but they lived together and did basically everything together.

It takes until his second year of high school to realize that this means he never got married. By this time he’s gotten really busy with school, work, and his friends, leaving the time turner to collect dust on his armoire. He hasn’t even thought about paying a visit to his past or future selves since the present is so exciting, at least until someone makes a comment about him being a father someday and he remembers what he _hadn’t_ seen in any of his travels.

There was no wife. No children. All of the kids were Ryuutaro’s or Natsune’s. Shintaro didn’t expect that to bother him as much as it does. He’s only sixteen; he definitely shouldn’t be thinking about that stuff now. But to know it’s never going to happen…

Curiously he grabs the chain and carefully swipes his thumb along the globe, wondering how far he should go. Maybe he did get married and she just wasn’t there during any of his previous trips. Maybe she passed early and he never loved again. Maybe—

His train of thought stops abruptly as he watches his future self on the couch with Juri, tucked into his side as they watch television. They had both gotten taller since the present day, but Shintaro’s still bigger and it’s a little awkward to watch them sit together like that. Shintaro feels uncomfortable, like he’s interrupting a private moment, which is dumb because it’s just Juri. It’s not even weird that they’re sitting that close since they usually squeeze into a bean bag chair together when Juri invites him to Tanaka kyoudai movie night.

Then Juri turns to look at him (well, his future self) and Shintaro _gets_ it. His revelation is approximately three seconds before the older Shintaro looks up and meets Juri’s eyes, both pairs closing as they lean closer until their lips make contact. Shintaro watches himself kiss his best friend in a mixture of confusion, horror, and fascination, unable to look away even when they pull apart, and no goofy grin he’s ever made in any photoshoot compares to the one gracing his elder counterpart’s face right now.

“All these years and you still look like you did the first time I confessed to you,” Juri says, lifting a hand to rake through future-Shintaro’s hair, still long and wild. “You’d think the novelty had worn off by now.”

“What can I say?” future-Shintaro replies, wrapping his arms around Juri’s neck and pressing close enough for their noses to touch. “The first love is the strongest.”

Present-Shintaro blinks and finds himself back in his bedroom, staring at the wall. All he can see is the expression on his own face so many years from now, unmarried and childless but still happy. Happy with Juri. When did that even happen? Or, should he say, when _will_ it happen?

Usually Shintaro forgets things in a day or so, his teenage brain moving so fast that he can barely keep up, let alone stay consistent, but this is still weighing on his mind later that week when he sees Juri at rehearsal. It’s hard to look at him after what he watched the older version of themselves do, but he has to know.

“Juri, do you love me?” he asks, even though there’s a high risk of him changing his—their—fate by meddling like this.

“What?” Juri replies, looking a bit surprised at the sudden question. “Why would you think that? Who have you been talking to?”

Shintaro gasps as Juri glances away, a sure sign of guilt. “You do! You do love me! Just tell me now, please? I don’t want to wait anymore.”

“Wait for what?” Juri’s face is bright red when he looks up, but he’s frowning. “Wait for me to break your heart? Teenage crushes never end well, Shin. Look at our friends who have tried it and ended up hating each other. You’re too important to me to chance losing like that.”

“Juri…” Shintaro trails off, his heart beating faster than after a vigorous dance rehearsal. “Say it. I wanna hear it, just once.”

Juri shakes his head like he wants to give another excuse, but then he meets Shintaro’s eyes and it’s a million worlds different when it’s happening directly to him instead of his future self.

“I’ve loved you since I was fourteen,” Juri says clearly, and Shintaro stops breathing. “But nothing can happen because it will end badly. My brothers all say that first loves never work out.”

Shintaro’s face hurts, but he’s not sure why. “There’s your problem. You’re listening to your brothers.”

Years from now, he won’t be able to say why he did it, but the next thing he knows is a hot mouth on his, warm breath on his cheek and he has no idea what he’s doing, just that it feels right. Arms wrap around him and pull him close, and it’s a good thing because he’s about to lose his balance from the rush of everything hitting him all at once.

“They’re wrong,” Shintaro breathes a few moments later. “I have it on good authority that the first love is the strongest.”


End file.
